For Release: July 30, 2003Contact: David Almasi at 202/543-4110 x106
or [email protected]

Black Conservatives
React to Inglewood Police Brutality Verdict

Members of the African-American
leadership network Project 21 are encouraged by the peaceful
night in the Los Angeles area and elsewhere following yesterday's
hung jury verdict in the trial of a former Inglewood, California
police officer who was charged with police brutality and the
not guilty verdict of his partner for filing a false report.
While emotions surrounding the case could have led to community
violence similar to the aftermath of the 1992 Rodney King trial,
Project 21 members are pleased that community leaders and residents
seem to be accepting the verdict and letting the legal process
run its course.

Yesterday's verdict stems from charges
that former Inglewood police officer Jeremy Morse committed assault
under color of authority on July 6, 2002 when he pushed then-16-year-old
Donavan Jackson onto the trunk of a police car and hit him in
the face. The beating was caught on video and played nationally
by the media. At the time of the incident, officers were questioning
Jackson's father about an expired auto registration when Jackson
made suspicious moves and resisted the officers. Family members
said Jackson has a learning disability that keeps him from following
instructions. Morse was fired after the incident.

While the jury deadlocked on the charge
against Morse, the district attorney is reviewing the decision
and considering a retrial that, if it takes place, would begin
September 29, 2003. Additionally, Jackson's father and grandfather
have filed state and federal civil lawsuits against Morse and
Morse's partner at the time, Bijan Darvish.

To follow are comments from Project 21
members about the case and its aftermath:

* Edmund Peterson (Washington, D.C.):
"As Benjamin Franklin stated in his Poor Richard's Almanac
in 1758, 'half a truth is often a great lie.' The tape we saw
on television obscured many of the facts that clearly took place
and complicated the perception that this was exclusively police
brutality. We must be careful about what we think we are seeing
in cases such as this. We cannot convict people based on media
images. We've got to let the judicial process run its entire
course. It's true we saw the officer hit the young man, but it's
what we didn't see that apparently mattered."

* Geoffrey Moore (Chicago, Illinois):
"A verdict has been rendered, and I hope people respect
that decision. For anyone who disagrees, I pray that they do
so in a civil and appropriate manner. Let the process unfold
- there may be a retrial. We do not need to have a repeat of
the riots, looting and murder that we witnesses in 1992 after
the Rodney King verdict."

* Reverend Jesse Lee Peterson (Los Angeles,
California): "The judge and jury have heard both sides of
this case and both sides have been represented fairly. The verdict
is in and the black community must accept it. We can't afford
a repeat of the Rodney King riots. We live in a nation of laws,
and we must obey the law like everyone else - even if we disagree
with the verdict."

* Mychal Massie (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania):
"First and foremost, it is important to acknowledge had
the father not made the decision to drive with expired license
plates none of this would have transpired. Beyond that, the events
as they unfolded constitute a breakdown of propriety on both
sides. Notwithstanding, we are a nation of laws with a system
of courts and jurisprudence. A duly sworn jury has found in said
case - like it or not, agree or not, our system has functioned
as it was intended. Should rioting and destruction result, it
would be tantamount to anarchy."